Man you guys do some of the coolest work out there! I don't say this as a friend but as a fellow fishhead who see's lots of cool fish. I have been asked to share with you guys the recent works of ... Well me. It has been a long time for my name to be in a competition and the world was a good place to make an appearance again before once again letting this business be up to those working to make there mark! Here are a few pictures of the Great White shark which I did for the collective artist division piece.
This piece is a collaboration of 3 artists including my self. Mr. Earl Martz of PA did the Lifelike Seals, and Frank Newmyer of MI did the Splash work. I can tell you from my end that’s a lot of friends and family supporting my madness and vision in this piece. Totally custom carved from what came in as a 14’ block of foam to the final hand carved tooth this was a labor of … well I won’t call it love but perseverance! I have to thank my beautiful and supportive wife for indulging me during this time for this effort. My good friend Mountain Ed for lending a hand to sand and support the big fish when I worked on it out side in the wintertime! Rick Hardy of FLA. For sending his real Great white teeth to have for a model to custom make the ones I did out of plastic by hand.
For sure I have to send a special thanks out to Terry Weick!!! I lived in Terry’s shop for several days to complete this project! Nothing ever of this size and proportion gets done with out help and encouragement of your friends! Terry kept me grounded in reality when I was out on the edge from time to time with the set backs and the difficulties along the way! Once complete in the carving portion I cut the fish up in to 6 piece and drove it to MI to complete it at Terry’s Barn next to his shop. His patience and friendship along with Paul Borcowski and many of the other fellow MTA members stopping by to see the fish adding a hand and comic relief was the right medicine to get the toothy fish done! 100% hand carved template made form nothing but drawings, teeth made by hand and a set of custom made eyes (my favorite part!) and it all came together! From a block of foam to finished Great White this was a cool project in the end! I hope only that it encourages other to see that any thing can be done with patience, discipline, and a belief in inspiring others with Gods creations!
As I say from time to time I was never talented just driven! Hard work and a relentless passion for what I do as a taxidermist allowed me personally, as part of a team to achieve this effort in to a 1st place best of category piece of a collective artist project where 3 folks who are among the best at what we do come together at a the highest level one can reach in our industry! Ribbons are nice and trophies are cool but if this one piece in some way inspires just one person to try something new or to just take a chance to push the envelope then I did what I can to do.
I did this in part for all the Anglers Artistry students and the fishheads who have followed my fishwork for years to only share with them the message that persistence’s and time makes a better fish taxidermist! My only regret is that I wish my daughter could have been there for this great show. I do wish that my Grandparents who raised me could have seen what a big fish I did! They were always the source of my motivation and taught me that God inspires all creation!
Thank you again for the kindness. I was personally in a complete state of humility and inspiration with all the most beautiful work in the World! Here are a few Shark pictures I want to share with you. I hope you enjoy them!
My Best!
Rick Krane
Making the body and the rough shape.
Kathie making Snow sculptures. LOL!
The Big fish off to MI!
Jean Roll and Terry going over the shark!
MTA friends stopping by to give support to a fellow member!
Some final sanding!
Making teeth! LOL!
All about reference!
Fins are in place!
World Champ fish taxidermist PAUL BORKOWSKI and personal Canada fishing guild going over the sharpness of the teeth! LOL!
Pretty much needs top teeth!
A little Primer before the paint work.
Painting the great white! No DVD on this one! LOL!
Some detail work with the Badger Renegade!
Some hand detail work.
Finished at 12:50am!
Here are some fished shots of the Shark.
Total custom eye.
Mouth detail.
All together at the Worlds!
A full photo.
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